Cannabis Content Marketing – The content first mentality

Personal use of cannabis has been decriminalized in South Africa. The sale or trade of any cannabis products containing THC is still illegal. Now that people can grow and consume their own cannabis in a private space, there are various legal business opportunities popping up like little cannabis seedlings. Over the coming 24 months, Content Marketing is going to be the most important factor for the long-term success of any business wanting to be part of the cannabis industry.

Cannabis Content now is all about information

Prohibition always causes a severe lack of information surrounding whatever is prohibited. In South African there was no shortage of anti-cannabis propaganda over the past 50 years. Now that the prohibition of cannabis is being lifted, there are millions of South Africans looking to educate themselves on the subject of cannabis. Content Marketers like myself are in the very fortunate position where we can create the information to help educate South Africans about cannabis.

Not only is the scope for informational content surrounding cannabis virtually endless, but smart digital marketers can also already tell you what the most common questions are people are asking. By doing keyword research we already know where the opportunities lie. In the age of the smartphone, everyone uses their phone as a point of entry when they are looking for information on any topic. Cannabis is no different. If someone has a question about anything cannabis, the first place they are going to is google.com.

By providing people with the answers to their cannabis questions you can position your cannabis brand as an authority in the field. Yes, it is illegal to sell cannabis oil containing THC, but it’s definitely not illegal to publish informational content about cannabis oil. The cultivation of cannabis in a private space has been decriminalized and as a result, there are a lot of people that want to learn how to grow their own cannabis.

What are the cannabis keywords that South Africans are typing into Google?

Since 18 September 2019 South Africans have been typing their fingers to the bone Googling every question they might have about cannabis. And contrary to popular belief it’s not just students and stoners using Google to find cannabis content. The data shows that everyone between the ages of 18 and 65 has questions about cannabis. You should be giving them the answers.

Here are some of the common questions South Africans are asking about cannabis:

How to grow cannabis

How to grow cannabis outdoors in South Africa

How to grow cannabis indoors in South Africa

Cannabis oil

Cannabis seeds South Africa

Cannabis seed bank South Africa

With only those six keywords there is a lot of information to provide. The actual list of cannabis-related queries in South Africa is much larger.

Using cannabis content marketing to build your brand now

The key to a successful cannabis business in South Africa right now will be treating your business like a publishing company. Any South African cannabis business that behaves like a content production company for the next 24 months will be winning the cannabis marketing race locally. Currently, there are very few businesses that are producing cannabis content for the South African audience.

Cannabis content marketing gives business owners the opportunity to get the attention of people who they would target as customers. We know where people’s attention is most of the time these days: On their smartphones, on Facebook, on Instagram, on YouTube, on blogs, on Linkedin.

Cannabis content for SEO to dominate organic search

Blogging and YouTube content is important for many reasons. The first reason is that you are providing valuable information to those that are looking for said information. The second reason is a bit less obvious: Google and YouTube are the two biggest search engines in the world.

When someone is trying to find out “how to grow weed” they head to Google and YouTube first. This gives cannabis business that provides grow tents/boxes, plant nutrients etc. the opportunity to use content marketing to position their brand in front of potential customers. For over eight years I’ve been creating content surrounding cannabis and I’m dominating search engine results pages (SERPs) for the massive range of cannabis-related search terms.

Are organic rankings on Google and YouTube really that valuable?

Because I created and executed a strong cannabis content marketing strategy I now own and manage the only South African website that ranks on page one of Google for the term “cannabis oil”. You can make your own deductions, but I can tell you from the amount of traffic I’m getting daily that there are many people typing “cannabis oil” into Google. South Africans run for the hills when they see the dollar, pound and euro signs. My page one ranking on Google for the term cannabis oil has had 7000+ impressions over the last 30 days.

That means 7000+ potential customers looking for information on cannabis oil. That’s 7000+ South Africans that could be interested in your cannabis oil product, and at the moment cannabis content marketing is the only way to reach those people. Because of regulations and advertising restrictions you can’t run Facebook ads, Instagram ads and Google ads to get the attention of people on to your brand, you will have to go the organic route. Luckily cannabis content marketing is a great way to reach those people on Google and YouTube.